


Day 12: home for the holidays

by itsmylifekay



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family Feels, Getting Together, Just a pinch of angst, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:40:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21766219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsmylifekay/pseuds/itsmylifekay
Summary: Prompt: Christopher's first Christmas without his mom (again). Buck overcompensates.So much fluff and Christmas cheer. Set before the Christmas episode/in place of it.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Comments: 50
Kudos: 495
Collections: 25 Days Of Buddie





	Day 12: home for the holidays

Christmas season has come again and Eddie welcomes it with a strange mix of emotions. There’s excitement and love nestled right alongside sadness and guilt. The holidays bring back memories of Shannon and the family they’d tried to rebuild, but they also bring a general feeling of anticipation and fun to the firehouse, decorations strung up and plans for get-togethers quickly made. Christopher smiles at everything, loves all of the songs and TV specials, is counting down the days until Santa comes. But Eddie knows it’s hard for him, too. He can’t ask Santa to bring his parent home this year, not even Christmas magic is strong enough to make that miracle come true.

He’s honestly a little surprised when he asks Chris about seeing Santa and the boy gives him a resounding yes. It makes him worry. Which is why he asks Buck to come along—well, that, and because Eddie will take any excuse to keep Buck close these days. They’ve been working through things for over a month now, both the betrayal Eddie felt at Buck’s lawsuit and Eddie’s own mistake with the fighting ring. They hurt each other deeply and if Eddie’s honest, he was scared things would never be the same.

But Buck always finds a way to exceed Eddie’s expectations.

He’s still the same warm, caring, happy guy that drew Eddie in from the beginning, falling back into Eddie’s life, Eddie’s space, as if he’d never even left. Their shoulders bump together as they walk along the fountain and Eddie knows he’s made the right choice asking Buck to come, both for his own sake and for Christopher’s. It feels like Buck chases away the sadness threatening to creep in.

“Glad you could come with us,” Eddie says, knocking his leg against Buck’s. “I know it means a lot to Christopher.”

“Of course. You know I’d do anything for that kid.”

Eddie nods, looks down at his hands then back up to where Christopher is waiting in line. “I wasn’t sure I should bring him this year. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d even _want_ to come.”

Buck turns to look at him, presses his leg back into Eddie’s. “What do you mean?”

“Last year he uh, he asked Santa to bring his mom back. That was his wish.” He hears Buck’s breath catch and shakes his head. “Yeah. And he was so sure Santa could do it, too. Because he’d asked him before. About me.” He runs a hand through his hair and tries to bite back the emotions bubbling up to the surface, making his eyes sting. “Honestly it’s part of the reason I brought her back into his life. I realized he’d had too much taken away, that he deserved to get something _back_. But in the end, he just got her taken away forever.”

He looks up at the sky, as much to blink back tears as to avoid Buck’s eyes. He doesn’t think he could take the sadness and pity there.

“Eddie.” Buck puts a hand on his thigh, squeezes gently. “You gave Christopher his mom back. That means something, even if she got taken away. She got to tell him she loves him and Christopher got to _hear_ it. You can’t regret that.”

Eddie swallows thickly. “I—I’m just afraid to ask him what he wished for this year. What if it’s something I can’t give him?”

“You’d give that kid the _world_ if you could, Eddie. He knows you love him.” Buck ducks down and catches Eddie’s eyes, gives him a classic Buckley smile. “No matter what, it’ll be okay, because he’ll still have you.”

Eddie huffs a laugh and shakes his head, smiling harder when Buck knocks their shoulders together.

“He has you too, you know,” he says, looking up at Buck and smiling softly at the shocked expression there. “That’s right, Buck, you’re already part of one Diaz family tradition. There’s no escaping now.”

He sees Christopher at the head of the line and stands up to get pictures, glancing over when Buck comes to stand beside him and biting back a laugh at the dazed look still on his face. Christopher waves and they both wave back, watching as Christopher settles on the big guy’s lap and starts whispering in his ear. He’s smiling and giggling and the Santa guy smiles too, looks up at the both of them with a twinkle in his eye that has Eddie shifting on his feet. Not the reaction to a kid asking for a dead mom back, but still not anything Eddie had expected. Should he be afraid?

The mischievous smile on Christopher’s face as he walks over and gestures for Buck to pick him up tells him all he needs to know.

_Be very, very afraid._

\--

Eddie gets home from a shift about a week after the Santa incident and has to pause in the doorway, just listening to the sounds of Chris and Buck’s laughter through the Christmas music playing over the speakers. It makes him feel warm in ways he hasn’t in a long time, makes him feel bright and full and like he’s coming home to _family._ Like Buck is a part of their home.

Sometimes, Eddie likes to pretend he is.

It doesn’t help that Buck catches him standing in the doorway and smiles, says _welcome back_ like it’s the most natural thing in the world. He’s got flour smeared across one cheek and his fingers are stained a bit green, no doubt from the food coloring used to decorate the Christmas tree cookies he sees on the counter. There are sprinkles all over the floor. Eddie takes a moment just to look, to let his face do something ridiculously fond as Buck turns away to help Christopher down from his chair.

Sometimes, Eddie doesn’t want to pretend anymore. Wants to be able to walk over and pull Buck into his side, Christopher in between them making faces as he leans in for a quick kiss, welcomed home by his two favorite boys.

Christopher walks over and gives him a hug, then starts tugging at his hand.

“Bucky and I made cookies!”

“I can see that,” Eddie laughs. He lets himself be pulled along, nodding and smiling and showering his son with praise as he’s shown everything they’ve made. There are sugar cookies shaped like Santa, Christmas trees, and reindeer, snowmen and snowflakes and stockings. Each one is lovingly decorated with icing and sprinkles and Eddie loves it even more that he can’t tell who made which—Buck or his eight-year-old son.

Then, he’s being drug over to the fridge, where there are trays of gingerbread cookies, one particular batch an obvious attempt at recreating the 118. Next is the freezer, where there’s chocolate bark setting up filled with raisins and nuts and even more sprinkles. Another glance around the kitchen and he realizes there’s more cookies in the oven waiting to come out.

“We planning on feeding an army here, boys?”

Not that he’s complaining. He’s just happy to see them spending time together, Christopher obviously enjoying himself and Buck finally letting go of some of the tension that he seems to perpetually carry in his shoulders. He’s started to fill out a bit more, too. After the fire truck and the embolism and the tsunami, he’d gotten so thin, and Eddie knows he’s been struggling to put weight back on. The idea that Buck’s been in his kitchen all day, happily baking and eating with Christopher, makes something inside of him hum in contentment.

Buck scratches the back of his head sheepishly, but Christopher is still beaming, hanging off Eddie’s hand. “I couldn’t decide what to make, so Buck said we could make all of them.”

“Yeah I uh—figured we could take some to the firehouse, give some to Maddie to take to the call center… Spread the Christmas cheer.”

“Ah, so they’re for sharing.” Eddie smiles down at Christopher and lifts an eyebrow. “Does that mean I get to try some?”

“Yeah!”

Eddie picks him up and holds him close, presses a kiss to the side of his head before asking, “Which one should I try then? Any recommendations?”

“You should try a snowman. I made this one and that one and…”

He starts gesturing at various cookies and Eddie smiles, picks out one of the ones Christopher mentioned and holds it up.

“Should I try this one then?”

It has a blue sprinkle hat and chocolate chip eyes and Christopher nods, watching him anxiously as he takes the first bite. Eddie groans loudly and Christopher giggles, burying his face in Eddie’s shoulder as he keeps making appreciative sounds and takes another bite.

“This is so good. You should be a baker.”

Christopher giggles again then sits up, pats Eddie’s neck and points at Buck. “Buck needs to try it too.”

“I already know they’re good, bud,” Buck laughs, coming around to give Chris a playful tickle on the stomach. “We’ve been eating them all day. I’m surprised you haven’t popped.”

“But you need to try this one!”

Buck laughs again and Eddie meets his eyes, lifts an eyebrow and holds the cookie out. “Quality control, man. Can’t be slacking on your duties.”

Buck’s face does something complicated that Eddie can’t follow, but he ultimately shrugs and opens his mouth expectantly, gives Eddie a teasing look like, what’re you going to do about it?

It’s not even a question. Eddie holds the cookie up to his mouth, feels his stomach clench and something hot simmer up his spine at the way Buck’s eyes flutter, the way his lips brush against the tips of Eddie’s fingers before pulling away. They stare at each other for a moment and the air between them feels different somehow, like maybe Buck wants to lean forward and kiss him just as badly as Eddie does.

But Christopher is still in Eddie’s arms, staring at them expectantly.

Buck clears his throat, looks at Christopher and smiles. “Delicious. Those are some top notch decorating skills you’ve got. Perfect sprinkle to frosting ratio.”

The timer goes off for the batch in the oven and Buck turns away, leaves Eddie staring at his back and wondering _what if._

Wondering if maybe he’s not the only one who’s come to think of this, of _them_ as home.

\--

A couple nights later and Buck is over again. Eddie had told him dinner, but Buck shows up early with a huge box cradled to his chest and Christopher calls his name happily from the hallway. Those two are thick as thieves and he just shakes his head before disappearing back into the kitchen, leaving them to whatever it is they’ve planned as he finishes dinner.

He’s not expecting to walk out and nearly blind himself with all the tinsel. It looks like a Hallmark store exploded in their living room, every spare inch covered in some kind of red or green.

Christopher notices him and perks up. “Daddy, where do we keep our Christmas decorations? We can put those up, too!”

“I think we already have enough, buddy,” Eddie laughs. “I don’t even know where we’re going to put the tree.” He’d planned to go get one the next morning, see if Buck wanted to stay over and tag along, but at this rate he’s worried what they might end up with if he has both Christopher _and_ Buck begging for something bigger than they need.

Case and point, the words are no sooner out of his mouth than he has two sets of puppy dog eyes aimed in his direction, immediately crumpling his resolve. He shakes his head and goes to dig in the back of his closet, hauls out his own box of decorations and their box of ornaments in preparation for the next day.

Christopher immediately starts pulling things out onto the floor and it doesn’t take long for him to start directing Buck as to what goes where, quickly filling up even more space in the living room before Buck gently hints at decorating _other_ rooms as well. Which is how Eddie finds himself with a row of nutcrackers on his dresser, tinsel around his bathroom mirror, lights strung up across the kitchen, and Christopher demanding he kiss a stuffed reindeer goodnight every time Eddie tucks him in for bed.

When Carla first comes over and sees it, she just stares from the doorway until Eddie shrugs and says, “Buck.” Then she smiles, all knowing and teasing, before hurrying him out the door.

And the decorations keep coming, too. Christopher makes a few at school that Eddie proudly puts on the tree or pins to the fridge, colorful drawings of Santa’s sleigh and a delicate glass ball with paint splattered inside, a cardboard gingerbread man.

Then, Buck has another day with Christopher. There’s old newspaper spread over the table and the floor, streaks of glittery silver and gold paint over black and white words. Christopher reaches up to hug him and Eddie notes the glitter on his hands, resigns himself to getting covered in the stuff as he scoops him up and settles him on his hip.

“What’s all this?” he asks.

“We’re making more decorations. And presents!” He twists a little in Eddie’s arms and gestures out to the living room. “Come see the tree.”

Dutifully going where directed, Eddie listens as Chris points out each new decoration on the tree. There are pipe cleaner candy canes, clothes pin angels, and Santas made out of spoons. They’re old-school Christmas crafts and they look about as terrible as they are endearing, making Eddie go a little mushy inside when he pictures Buck helping Chris make each one.

“They’re awesome, kid.”

“I’m not done yet, either” Christopher says, squirming until Eddie puts him down then heading back into the kitchen, obviously eager to get back to work. “C’mon Buck, we need to finish the presents!”

Buck claps him on the shoulder and Eddie decides to leave them to it, goes to his room to put on some more comfortable clothes in preparation for relaxing the rest of the evening. He orders them some takeout while he’s at it, makes sure to get enough so that he has an excuse for Buck to stay. Not that he really needs one, with how tightly Christopher’s got the guy wrapped around his fingers.

The kitchen is less of a mess when he finally returns, most of the newspaper thrown away and all of Christopher’s creations lined up to dry on the remaining sheets spread out in a corner. They’re macaroni art ornaments, dripping with glue and spray paint and Christopher beams as Eddie looks them over.

“Real nice, buddy,” he says, ruffling his hair. “But I think you might’ve gotten more glitter on yourself than the actual crafts. Let’s get you cleaned up before dinner, yeah?”

Christopher smiles and doesn’t argue, for which Eddie is grateful, but he has to bite his lip a moment later when Christopher says, “I want Buck to stay.”

Eddie shoots the other man a look, trying to gauge his reaction, and finds Buck already watching him, no doubt doing the exact same. “You know what,” he says, still looking Buck in the eye, a smile creeping across his face. “I want him to stay, too.”

Buck laughs. “Guess it’s decided then.”

Christopher cheers and Eddie urges him down the hall, telling him to start getting ready. He gives Buck a fond look and shakes his head. “You’re spoiling him.”

Buck just grins right back. “Yeah? Well by that logic I guess I’m spoiling you too.”

Which, fair. Eddie feels pretty damn spoiled having Buck in his life, even when he’s destroying the kitchen with glitter. But that’s not what he meant.

“C’mon, Buck,” he says. “The cookies? The decorations? All the crafts? You’re bending over backwards even more than usual. And you can’t tell me it’s a Christmas thing because you weren’t like this last year.”

Buck sighs and looks away, makes Eddie miss the clear blue of his eyes.

“It’s just—Like you said, this Christmas is the first without one of his parents. Like _really_ without them. And you were worried about not being able to give him everything and I just… wanted to help.” He looks up at Eddie then, so worried and wide-eyed that Eddie automatically reaches out, puts a hand on his shoulder.

“Buck…”

Buck shakes his head. “I know I can never replace Shannon, replace his _mom_ , but I didn’t want him to feel like he was missing something. I know how hard it can be to have other kids talking about what’s going on at home when your own situation isn’t as great.”

Eddie is immediately hit with the urge to wrap Buck in his arms and never let go. He’s gotten flashes in the past, little hints that the Buckley household wasn’t a happy place. He looks at Maddie and Buck and is thankful they got out and that they’re okay, even if sometimes he can see a sad, haunted shadow in the back of their eyes.

Since he can’t protect Buck from what happened in the past, he settles for one, solid hug in the present, crushing Buck to his chest and pressing a kiss to his forehead when he feels Buck’s arms wrap around him in return.

“Cariño, you are doing more than enough.” He leans back and makes sure Buck is looking at him, wants him to know exactly how serious he is as he says the next words. “ _You_ are enough. I told you before; you’re a part of this family now. Not as his mom or whatever you think you need to be, but as _you._ As his Buck. As my best friend. Do you understand that?”

Buck just kind of stares at him with wide eyes, obviously a little blind-sided by the suddenness and intensity of Eddie’s reaction. He’s got a beautiful flush to his cheeks and Eddie wants so badly to taste it, to see how far down he can get that flush to go with just gentle words and touches.

Then, Buck starts to smile, an innocent look in his eyes that Eddie knows by now to fear. “Does that mean I get to know the secret Diaz family hot chocolate recipe?”

He’s about to respond, about to say something about winning over the family, or going on a date first, but finds each excuse fizzling out as quickly as the last. He wants more with Buck, already thinks of him as family. Already has him stay over more nights than not. Eats family meals with him. Is raising a _son_ with him.

And if the not-so-subtle looks from their friends are any indication, he’s not the only one who’s noticed.

He bumps their foreheads together and huffs out a breath, feels Buck go still against him. “Of course, querido. You’re family.”

He feels more than hears Buck’s intake of breath, and when he pulls away Buck’s lips are parted in awe and surprise, just begging for Eddie to lean in and kiss them pink.

Christopher calls for him before anything can happen, but he feels Buck’s eyes on his back as he walks down the hall. Knows he’s not the only one who felt the heat between them, the subtle shift from hope towards something more.

\--

The days fly by and Eddie finds himself looking forward to Christmas more and more. Christopher can’t stop talking about his Buck and all the fun things they’ve done and as much as he loves to see Chris happy, he worries Buck is pushing himself too hard. Even after the talk they’d had, Buck has still gone above and beyond to make sure Christopher has the best holiday possible, spending most of his off-duty time hanging out with him, helping him wrap presents, taking him to the winter exhibit at the children’s museum, and keeping up a running game of trying to figure out Christopher’s Christmas wish.

The kid’s been very elusive about it, despite having told Eddie the previous year. And as much as he wants to worry, he finds it hard to when Christopher goes to bed with a smile almost every night. The one time Eddie had brought up Shannon, Christopher had patted his cheek and told him it was okay, that they still had each other.

So he lets himself relax a little, hopes that for once that it’ll be enough.

Christmas Eve comes and goes, the evening spent with his abuela and Pepa. They have dinner as a family and Christopher insists on having his cookies for dessert, gives each of them a macaroni ornament, too. They smile and coo and say they’re perfect and Christopher beams, tells them that he made them with Buck and then proceeds to launch into everything else they’ve done together as well.

Eddie flushes as two sets of shrewd eyes land on him.

“And Buck’s coming over tomorrow night, too!”

“Oh is he?” Pepa asks, giving Eddie another weighted look.

“Yeah, he has to work tonight so daddy and I are having first Christmas together with you and then we’re having second Christmas with Buck.”

His abuela smiles, gently pets his cheek. “That sounds very nice, mi niño. You should always spend Christmas with who you love.”

She looks at Eddie at that last part, eyebrows lifted like she’s daring him to challenge it, to correct her. He doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t. And he feels his cheeks burn even hotter at her pleased nod.

They leave not too long afterwards, heading home so Eddie can try and get Christopher to sleep for more than six hours, knowing full well he’s going to be up and yelling as soon as the alarm goes off.

It feels almost odd putting Chris to bed by himself on such a big day, knows Buck would be by his side if it wasn’t for work, but since Chim and Buck don’t have kids or spouses they’d volunteered for double shifts so that others could spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with their families. Eddie admires the consideration, but still wishes Buck was here.

Wishes it even more the next morning when Chris is opening presents under the tree, happy and smiling and asking Eddie to give Buck a call, impatient to show him everything Santa brought. His phone is taken as soon as it connects and Eddie is left looking over Christopher’s shoulder at Buck’s sleepy grin, unable to help falling a little bit more in love.

\--

He hears keys in the lock right around dinnertime, doesn’t even have time to look up before he hears Christopher’s excited yell from where he’s been playing with his new toys in the living room.

“Buck!”

“Hey buddy.”

Even from the kitchen, Eddie can tell he sounds tired, knows from experience that all he must want is a shower and to crawl into bed. A double shift is always rough, let alone on a holiday where people always seem to make things interesting.

He gets out in the doorway just in time to see Buck stoop down and gather Chris up in a hug, the boy already talking a mile a minute, re-explaining all his toys and telling Buck to come look, tugging at his arm. Eddie laughs and puts a gentle hand on Christopher’s shoulder.

“Mijo, let him get in the door. Why don’t you get your toys organized while Buck takes a shower?”

Christopher pouts for just a moment then looks up at Buck, seems to take in the dark circles under his eyes. He nods and starts pushing Buck down the hall. “We don’t have to play tonight, I’ll just show you. But first shower, like daddy said.”

Buck laughs and puts up his hands, grabbing his bag off the floor before disappearing into Eddie’s room. Eddie reheats their dinner while he waits, leftovers from their meal with abuela and Pepa, and sets everything out on the table before telling Chris to wash his hands.

He goes into his room intending to knock on the bathroom door and tell Buck dinner’s ready, but finds Buck already out and dressed, LAFD sweatpants riding low on his hips and one of Eddie’s shirts looking soft across his shoulders. He looks so natural, in Eddie’s room, in his clothes, in his _life_ that he can’t help the way he closes the last few steps between them.

Buck watches him carefully and Eddie licks his bottom lip, notes the way Buck’s eyes follow the motion. He reaches out and puts a gentle hand on his cheek, lets his thumb brush the barest corner of his mouth.

“Welcome home, cariño,” he murmurs, watches in awe as Buck’s eyes flutter shut, face open and expectant and everything Eddie’s dreamed about.

When their mouths finally meet, it feels like every comfort Eddie’s ever known, warm and familiar and perfect. Buck’s lips are warm and slightly chapped, the scrape of his stubble a new feeling for Eddie to explore, and he drinks in every bit of it, lets his tongue sweep at Buck’s full bottom lip and hums, pleased, when Buck opens for him immediately, grabs at Eddie’s waist and groans softly into his mouth like he can’t quite help himself.

It feels _perfect._

He pulls back and smirks at the way Buck tries to follow him, at the way he whines softly until Eddie leans back in and presses a gentle peck to his lips.

But they do pull away eventually, and Eddie feels so warm. So full. Both of them smiling and happy and exactly where they’re supposed to be.

“Hey,” Eddie whispers.

“Hey.”

He leans back in for one more kiss, then another, loves how easily Buck melts into him, has to force himself to stop, tugging gently on Buck’s lower lip as he finally pulls away.

“Thank you,” he says, Buck’s eyes fluttering open to meet his own. “Thank you for making Christmas so special this year, for both of us.”

Buck smiles and Eddie strokes his cheek with his thumb, keeps up the gentle motion as he continues.

“I know how hard you’ve been working to make things perfect for Christopher,” he says, voice soft. “And I appreciate it, I do…”

Buck’s eyes flick away, but Eddie gently turns his head back, makes sure to look at him with as much love and patience as he can possibly convey. “But all we want now is _you,_ Buck. Just you, here, hanging out with us. That’s enough. Okay?” He gives him a teasing smile. “I’m fully prepared to kiss you until you say yes.”

Buck huffs out a laugh, eyes flicking down to the curve of Eddie’s mouth. “That’s playing dirty.”

“Yeah? Well you’d better get used to it.” He leans in and captures Buck’s mouth in another kiss, licks past his lips and keeps it slow and heated until Buck’s fingers are clenching in the front of his shirt. “Are you ready for dinner? No more running around?”

Buck nods against Eddie’s forehead. “Yeah, I—yeah.”

Eddie laughs. “Good to see my plan is working.” He grabs Buck’s hand and starts leading him towards the door. “If it’s that easy to kiss you stupid, I can keep you out of all kinds of trouble.”

Buck pouts and Eddie squeezes his hand, sits him down at the table and calls for Christopher to keep him company while he goes and heats up their food again. Christopher grins the whole meal and insists on an extra cookie for each of them for dessert, hands sticky with sugar when all three of them finally pile onto the couch for presents.

Buck sits patiently as Christopher shows him all his new toys, then reaches down to dig in his bag and pulls out a gift, smiling as Christopher tears through the paper. It feels so perfectly domestic Eddie could cry.

Christopher gets a new Lego set from Buck and a promise to help him put it together and then Christopher is looking at Eddie with expectant eyes, clapping happily when Eddie pulls out a gift and sets it in Buck’s lap.

“This is from us.”

“Yeah, we made it special just for you.”

Buck opens it carefully, tears off the paper and flips open the box to reveal a popsicle stick frame Christopher made at school (painted red with Christmas themed fire trucks) with a photo of the three of them pasted inside. It’s from a day all of them were at the station, Christopher between them on the couch and each of them laughing so hard there are tears in their eyes. It’s a great picture and Eddie had gotten it developed as soon as Chim had sent it.

Buck sniffles and Eddie looks up to see him wipe at his eyes, reaches out and brushes a few of the tears away himself before holding out an arm for Christopher so the boy can climb into their laps and wrap his arms around Buck’s shoulders.

“It’s okay to cry,” Christopher says. He pats gently at the side of Buck’s face.

Buck sniffles again and hugs Chris back, buries his face in his soft hair. “Thanks, kid. And they’re happy tears.” He pulls back and clears his throat, holds up the gift and looks it over one more time. “Thank you so much. I love it.”

It doesn’t take long after that for Christopher to request they put in a movie. They clear away the gifts and grab blankets, put on pajamas and brush teeth before resettling on the couch with Christopher on Buck’s lap and Buck pressed tight to Eddie’s side. It’s warm and cozy and perfect and Christopher nearly falls off the couch laughing so hard when Buck sings along to The Grinch, voice pitched low and face wrinkled up in a scowl.

Eddie throws an arm around Buck’s shoulders, pulls him a little closer and scratches gently at his scalp, not having to wait long at all before Buck’s letting out a yawn and drooping a bit further into his side. He’s been holding up well, but Eddie knows he’s flagging, a double shift, crying, and a month of Christmas cheer finally catching up with him. The Whos start singing ‘Welcome Christmas’ and Buck yawns again, eyes sliding closed, jerking open a moment later as his head drops.

Christopher looks up at Eddie and giggles and Eddie nods, shushes him gently and tells him to pick out another movie. The opening of Rudolph starts and Eddie nudges Buck with his shoulder, coaxes him into leaning a bit more, and a bit more, until finally his head falls heavy on Eddie’s shoulder, out like a light.

When the credits roll, Buck hasn’t moved an inch, is a solid weight against Eddie’s side and is most likely drooling on his shoulder if the dampness he feels is any indication. Christopher’s asleep, too, nestled up against Buck’s chest and letting out these gentle, whistling breaths with every exhale. Eddie is reluctant to move, but knows he has to, gets Chris bundled in his arms before standing up, moves as slowly as possible to try and keep both of them asleep.

Buck grumbles but doesn’t wake, readjusting so he’s leaned against the couch and not giving so much as a twitch when Eddie wedges a pillow against his side to keep him upright.

Christopher, however, starts to shift in his hold when they’re halfway down the hall. He blinks up at Eddie as he’s tucked into bed.

“You have a good Christmas, buddy?”

“Yeah, the best.” He smiles and cuddles down into his blankets, then looks up at Eddie with a concerned wrinkle on his brow. “Are you going to carry Buck to bed too? He’s really tired.”

Eddie laughs, leans down to give Christopher a kiss on the forehead. “He’s a little heavier than you are, but I’ll see what I can do.”

Content with that answer, Christopher is asleep before Eddie’s even shut the door.

The soft glow of Christmas lights guides him back out to where Buck is still asleep on the couch, and Eddie crouches in front of him, just takes in the soft lines of his face for a moment before reaching out and giving his shoulder a gentle shake.

“Buck,” he says. “Wake up for me, baby.”

Buck makes the most adorable, grumpy sound, face scrunching up, and Eddie almost breaks down and picks him up right there, six-foot stature be damned. But then Buck’s looking up at him with these sleep bleary eyes and starting to uncurl, shifting like he’s going to lay down on the couch before Eddie stops him, sits down and tugs him into his side instead.

“Christmas isn’t over quite yet,” he says, leaning over and grabbing Buck’s present from the coffee table. “There was one part I wanted to wait to show you.”

Eddie opens the box and pulls out the frame, flips it over and pulls out his phone light so Buck can see what’s written in pencil on the back.

_The Diaz Family- Christmas 2019_

“I know I keep telling you you’re a part of this family,” he says softly. “But I’m not sure you know how serious I am.”

Buck looks at him, eyes sleepy and brows furrowed, obviously not really getting it.

“You’re an honorary Diaz, man. As long as you’re willing, you’re stuck with us. Christmas and every day in between.”

“Oh…” Buck says. He blinks a few times, staring down at the picture.

“Chris wanted to write ‘Diaz Family’ on the front too, but I told him to wait. Didn’t want to catch you too off guard.”

Buck nods, brow furrowing again, and for one brief, anxious moment Eddie wonders if he’s made a mistake. Then Buck opens his mouth.

“Are you like, proposing to me? Because I love you, and like… yes? But also, maybe we should actually date first? Like, _actually_ date. You know?”

Eddie’s eyes go so wide they must take up half his face, and then he’s laughing, collapsing onto Buck’s shoulder and absolutely wheezing with how ridiculous this whole situation has turned out.

Buck shifts away, obviously unsure about what’s happening and feeling like _he’s_ made a mistake, but Eddie grabs him quickly, gets his face in both hands and presses their foreheads together.

“Buck… _Evan._ I love you too and I want that, so much. But when I propose to you there will be a ring and me down on one knee.” He pulls back just enough to look Buck in the eye with a gentle smile. “So I will take your yes, and save it for later. Okay?”

There’s a beautiful flush on Buck’s cheeks and Eddie is pleased to realize that now he’s allowed to find out how far it goes, can lean in and press Buck back into the couch, kiss him until their lips are pink and swollen, until Eddie can chase that flush all the way down his neck, pressing wet kisses to his throat until he meets the collar of his shirt.

When he pulls back, Buck’s eyes are dark but he still looks soft and rumpled with sleep, pressed up against the cushions with the soft lights of the Christmas tree making shadows on his face. Eddie sighs and leans in for one last kiss.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

He pulls Buck to his feet without any resistance and they wander down the hall to Eddie’s room, shutting off the last of the lights along the way. Eddie turns down the covers and smiles at how Buck is still just standing there, staring at the bed with a slight frown like he can’t quite manage what to do about it. Sleepy Buck is adorable enough, but sleepy and well-kissed Buck? That’s proving almost too much for Eddie to handle.

Eventually, though, Buck crawls under the covers, sprawls out immediately and looks up at Eddie through one cracked eye as he strips off his shirt and climbs into bed.

He really shouldn’t be surprised when two seconds later Buck is reaching for him, making grabby hands until Eddie scoots over and pulls Buck into his chest. For a man so large, he manages to fit perfectly in Eddie’s arms, curled up against his shoulder with one arm thrown across his waist.

He falls asleep almost instantly. Eddie watches him for a few minutes, strokes gentle fingers down his back and marvels how much has changed in a year. How much his world has shifted.

He can’t say he minds.

Especially when Christopher barges in the next morning, takes one look at them and shouts, “Buck stayed!” before coming to the side of the bed and giving them the biggest, brightest smile. “I knew Santa could do it.”

And yeah, Eddie thinks, looking down at where Buck’s still got his face buried in his shoulder, smile hidden against his skin—he got his Christmas wish, too.


End file.
